Verticals In Waiting: Hotels

Resident contributor Isaac Timothy T returns with an analysis of a gap in market need which current solutions have failed to provide for: online search for hotel accommodation in Singapore. Singaporeans may not feel the pain, but our many tourists do. Eager entrepreneurs searching for an idea, take up Ian’s suggestion?

Last week, fellow resident contributor Der Shing shared his thoughts about Singapore’s online classified space. That got me thinking about what other verticals in Singapore could be ‘web-two-point-zerolized’. One of Singapore’s growth strategy is to increase our share of the MICE (Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, Exhibitions) industry. I believe there is one vertical in the online space that is closely related to the MICE industry which has great potential for change – Hotels.

Let me first justify why I feel ‘hotels’ is a vertical that warrants attention in the online space. When Singapore grows the MICE industry, the increased number of people coming to Singapore will need to find a place to stay. There are a few sources an individual can get information about where to stay in a foreign country – travel guidebooks, travel related magazines, friends who have been to the country and the internet. Let us make the reasonable assumption that the internet is a tool that is heavily used to research for a place to stay in a foreign country.

To confirm my suspicion that ‘hotels’ would be a worthy vertical to focus on, I used Google’s Keywords Tool to get some idea of what are the phrases people are searching with Google that contain the word ‘Singapore’. Here is a list of the top 25 keywords by average search volume over the last 12 months.

1.singapore
2.singapore singapore
3.carlton singapore – Hotel Related
4.flights to singapore – Travel To Singapore (Hotel Related)
5.hotel in singapore – Hotel Related
6.hotels in singapore – Hotel Related
7.jobs in singapore
8.map of singapore
9.national university of singapore
10.orchard hotel singapore – Hotel Related
11.oriental singapore – Hotel Related
12.raffles singapore – Possibly Hotel Related
13.singapore address
14.singapore air – Possibly For Travel To Singapore (Hotel Related)
15.singapore airline – Possibly For Travel To Singapore (Hotel Related)
16.singapore airport – Possibly For Travel To Singapore (Hotel Related)
17.singapore bank
18.singapore business
19.singapore capital
20.singapore changi – Possibly For Travel To Singapore (Hotel Related)
21.singapore cheap flights – Possibly For Travel To Singapore (Hotel Related)
22.singapore china
23.singapore city
24.singapore consulate
25.singapore country

12 out of the 25 key words are possibly hotel related – that is 48%. Over the last 12 months, the phrase ‘flights to Singapore’, ‘hotel in Singapore’ and ‘hotels in Singapore’ were ranked 4th, 5th and 6th in average search volume. Using this data, I can say that there is demand for information about hotels in Singapore. So, if there is demand for such information, are the current sites online satisfactory in meeting that demand?

I did two searches with Google using the keywords ‘hotels in Singapore’ and ‘hotel in Singapore’. The first thing that I noticed is that there are a lot of sponsored links (i.e. ads). This means that there is a lot of players in this market. The top result is this site – http://hotels.online.com.sg/. Taking a look at the site, the first impression is that it is definitely not a Web 2.0 site, however this is not necessarily a bad thing. The site provides the standard information about hotels (i.e. location, facilities, description, pictures), the booking rates and a booking function. I could not find any pictures, reviews, ratings or any other form of user-generated content from previous stayers at the hotels.

There are too many sites to go into details about each of them. Below is a list of some of them chosen from the sponsored links and the organic search results where the only criteria was that they appeared on the first page of the search results. Some of these sites like Agoda, Asia Rooms and Wired Destinations’ Singapore Hotel Guide had ratings and reviews – Singapore Hotel Guide allows anyone to post a review and rating, Agoda only allows members and for Asia Rooms I could not find a form on the website to write the review (the FAQ says to drop a note). Zuji allows people to contribute but the process is tedious unlike Yahoo Travel though it seems they (i.e. Zuji) are doing it to get as much details as possible. Some of these sites have ratings but were not clear about how the ratings were established (e.g.AsiaTravel) while others like Wotif had ratings which were declared ‘self-rated’.

Sites From Search Results

1. Asia Travel
2. Singapore Hotel Guide
3. Asia Rooms
4. Hotel Travel
5. Wotif
6. Agoda
7. Booking.com
8. Zuji
9. Direct Rooms
10. Singapore Hotels

Four things worth noting. The first is that all these sites give the impression of being poorly designed in terms of information architecture. The sites tend to be cluttered. This makes it hard to find and process information. Navigating through some of the sites is an exercise of patience.

The second thing is these sites aren’t what you might call Web 2.0 in that there is the lack of user-generated content and participation.

The third thing is that out of the sites in the first page of my results, I found only two sites focusing on hotels in Singapore (i.e. Singapore Hotels and Hotels Online). The rest were focused on hotels in general and the information on Singapore hotels was just a subset of a larger database on world hotels.

The fourth thing is that none of the information was arranged in a way to be context-specific. Let me elaborate on this point. A lot of the descriptions I read seemed like they had the same parent with different writers modifying it for their site. Beyond that feeling, let me explain what I mean by the information lacking context. Below is the description of Meritus Mandarin taken from three of the sites mentioned above.
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From Singapore Hotel Guide:

Meritus Mandarin Hotel Description:
At the Meritus Mandarin Singapore all our 1200 rooms and suites are designed as your luxurious “home away from home”. The hotel has a total of 10 restaurants and bars. Banquet and convention facilities cater for up to 1000 persons.

Meritus Mandarin Hotel Location:
Located in the heart of Orchard Road, Singapore’s premier shopping. Changi Airport 30 minutes away.

From Hotels Online:

Location Roundup:
Strategically located along fashionable Orchard Road, the heart of Singapore’s shopping, tourist and entertainment district.

Hotel Description:
Mandarin Singapore is a harmonious blend of traditional Oriental splendour and Western contemporary elegance. Adorning the hotel’s palatial lobby are two priceless works of art. Equally awe-inspiring is a 70-foot mural depicting the 87 Taoist Immortals. Singapore is a modern metropolis with a diverse population that offers many worlds of traditional cultural experiences to fascinate explorers and visitors.

From Asia Travel:

Description:
Conveniently located in the most prestigious address on Orchard Road – the heart of Singapore’s business, shopping and entertainment district, the Meritus Mandarin Singapore is a harmonious blend of traditional Oriental splendour and Western contemporary elegance. It is easily accessible via two Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train stations – Orchard and Somerset.

Voted as one of the Gold List Hotels in Asia, Australia and Pacific Nations in the 2005 Readers’ Choice Gold List of Conde Nast Traveller,, this five-star business traveller’s hotel provides 1200 guestrooms with city or harbour view including 32 suites, 2 exclusive Club lounges and 2 Presidential Suites. The rooms, equipped with broadband internet access, are designed with plush features to meet the needs of every business traveller.

In accompaniment to the Grand Tower’s S$52 million renovation in 2003, the South Tower guestrooms now emerged with a brand new look. Guests can look forward to checking into luxurious comfort of tastefully appointed rooms featuring attractive fabrics, subtle hues and elegant furnishings.

The Mandarin Club Lounge, located on the 36th floor of the South Tower, is a sleek showcase of contemporary modernity. Designed with seamless continuity of quality and elegance along with the new guestrooms, the lounge provides distinctive amenities and services customized for the savvy travellers.

Location:
Meritus Mandarin Singapore is conveniently located in the heart of Orchard Road, Singapore’s premier shopping, entertainment and business district. We are within close proximity to shopping malls, state embassies and the hottest nightspots in Singapore.

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When I say that none of the descriptions of the hotel and location take context into account, what I mean is that none of them distinguishes the type of user they are talking to. There are three broad categories of travelers – Business, Family and Leisure.

There is scope for the information to be broken down. The business traveler would probably be more interested in how close the hotel is to Suntec City. The family traveler would probably be more interested in where to take the kids, how to get there and what the family could do around the vicinity of the hotel.

Based on the points above, I do believe there is the opportunity for a Singapore-based site to focus on hotels in Singapore. Focusing and being based locally would give the site an advantage to get better data on the hotels in Singapore, filter the data and present it in a way relevant to the different type of travelers to Singapore. With the current state of the sites, a better designed site in terms of information architecture will have a significant advantage.

What do the readers think about the points I have made above? Please do share your thoughts. For my next post, I will discuss the possible difficulties in ‘web-two-point-zerolizing’ a locally based site on hotels in Singapore and some potential solutions.

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